TN law enforcement officers learn how to investigate deaths of society's most vulnerable: children

TBI director David Rausch speaks as Terry McCreight and John Mehr look on at a child homicide conference at the West Tennessee Regional Training Center from May 15 to May 17.(Photo: Cassandra Stephenson)

More than 150 law enforcement officers converged at the West Tennessee Regional Training Center Wednesday to learn the latest techniques for investigating deaths of the most vulnerable members of a community: children.

"Children can't defend themselves, and when you have these types of crimes happen, you only get one chance to do (an investigation) right," Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch said.

The three-day conference brought in TBI agents who have worked child homicide cases, legal experts, medical experts and more. Law enforcement officers from throughout Tennessee and even some from out of state came to learn new tools, Madison County Sheriff John Mehr said.

Members of the Madison County Sheriff's Department Criminal Investigations Division were among the attendees.

Madison County Sheriff John Mehr speaks at the opening of a child homicide conference at the West Tennessee Regional Training Center from May 15 to May 17.(Photo: Cassandra Stephenson)

"They're trying to prepare investigators to learn new techniques that are always evolving," Mehr said. "Over my career, things have changed so much."

Terry McCreight, president of West Tennessee Criminal Investigators Association and chief investigator with the Dyer County Sheriff's Office, said this conference is the first that he's seen focus solely on investigating child deaths.

A different kind of investigation

Investigating a child death brings unique challenges, Rausch said.

From the start of an investigation, investigators must deploy different techniques and look for specific clues and indicators that a child death may be a homicide. If a family member is responsible for a child's death, they may claim that the child has hurt themselves in some way, Rausch explained.

"The big challenge is to determine what really happened, and that's sensitive, because it may be that the child has gotten into something and harmed themselves," he said. "But for the most part, most of these investigations reveal that those initial stories aren't true."

More than 150 law enforcement officers from throughout Tennessee attended a conference focusing on child homicide investigations at the West Tennessee Regional Training Center from May 15 to May 17.(Photo: Cassandra Stephenson)

Mehr said few things are more unnerving than a medical examiner declaring a child death a homicide when investigators initially thought it to be accidental.

"You want to show compassion to the family, but also, the reality is on a child investigation that they're your first set of suspects," Rausch said.

The conference showed officers how to navigate this delicate situation, research specific types of records and even how to testify in child death cases.

Talking about trauma

The conference also included sessions that explored how investigating child deaths impacts those in law enforcement — a piece Rausch said is vital for investigators who feel anger and pain just as anyone else would.

"It's not just the on-the-ground work of doing the investigation, but what happens afterward," he said. "How do you keep yourself healthy after you've dealt with one of these really horrific cases?"

TBI Director David Rausch speaks at the opening of a child homicide conference at the West Tennessee Regional Training Center from May 15 to May 17.(Photo: Cassandra Stephenson)

Investigators who have experienced these cases talked through the impacts of trauma and how to work through it, sharing real-world case examples.

"When a child is involved, the entire community is who will hurt," Rausch said.

Reach Cassandra Stephenson at ckstephens@jacksonsun.com or at (731) 694-7261. Follow Cassandra on Twitter at @CStephenson731.